The neo-impressionist portrait, 1886-1904 /

This catalogue for a 2014 exhibition features lengthy essays by Block (Univ. of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign) and Lee (Indianapolis Museum of Art) that serve as an introduction. Pointillists flattened their effigies in a way that was similar to first-century Egyptian funerary images, used poses frequently seen in earlier art, and experimented with encaustic. They based their colors on theories about complementary color contrasts developed by Rood, Henry, and Chevreul. Initially inspired by Seurat's La Grande Jatte, the Pointillists were important for later art. This volume's two essays are followed by reproductions of sumptuously illustrated paintings and drawings from the exhibition. Each item is accompanied by descriptive, analytical, and historical information, as well as sales history, including biographical detail and provenance. A subsequent section contains more biography. Aside from famous Pointillists such as Seurat, Signac, and Cross, the spotlight is on lesser-known artists such as Delavallee, Dubois-Pillet, Lauge, Jelley, Morren, and Regoyos (particularly the Belgians). Camille Pissarro exhibited with the Belgian "Les XX" group, but his figurative art is not illustrated in the essays. Summing Up: Recommended. Lower-division undergraduates through researchers/faculty; general readers. E. E. Hirshler emeritus, Denison University

Starred Review. Block (Ricker Lib. of Architecture and Art, Univ. of Illinois) and Lee (Indianapolis Museum of Art [IMA]) have written a beautiful, scholarly, yet accessible book that's not only a catalog (for exhibitions at IMA and the Brussels Cultural Ctr.) but a pioneering work, the first to examine portraits produced by neo-impressionist artists. Lee begins by discussing Georges Seurat and the origins of the movement; Block then goes on to explain the role of the portrait in a style of painting that is "seemingly antithetical" to the purpose of portraiture. More than the impressionists, neo-impressionist artists such as Edmond Cross, Georges Lemmen, Maximilien Luce, Paul Signac, Henry van de Velde, Vincent van Gogh, and Theo van Rysselberghe favored landscapes, seascapes, and cityscapes over portraits. Over 100 color, mostly full-page, illustrations show the ways in which the tiny dots of color favored by Seurat and slightly larger blocks of color can make up a dynamic, lifelike portrait. Brief biographies of the individual artists, along with each painting or drawing's provenance, exhibition history, and bibliography are included. VERDICT A great treat for art lovers and scholars alike.-Marcia G. Welsh, Dartmouth Coll. Lib., Hanover, NH (c) Copyright 2014. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.